Implementing Machine Learning Enabled Solutions in Large Enterprises: Challenges and Principles of Success

This post is part of an ongoing series enabling enterprises outside of Big Tech to get started with their enterprise AI strategy, finding and keeping advanced analytics talent, creating the perfect setting for the right people to work at their best, customer obsession, and nurture world-class customer engagement while undergoing digital transformation.

Unfair advantages for large enterprises

Recently I reached out to an old acquaintance of mine now running his own business, discussing the nuances of machine learning and AI. He said

“We are a small firm and we have small data — most of our work is better done in excel and relational databases. We don’t need machine learning — we can use tools from big enterprises which embed some kind of machine learning — but we don’t need any AI magic for our business”.

That message stayed with me for long. So true.

The entire last decade incumbent enterprises in all sectors were asked by their board to change the structure, processes, and people and start becoming like insurgents. They started building these capabilities organically as well as buying out companies that potentially could make them a…